Putin Goes Online for Chat, and Russians Want to Know

Compiled by MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ and JAMES K. PHILIPS

Published: July 7, 2006

A summary of the top stories in Russian newspapers appears Monday through Friday.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES

President Vladimir V. Putin went digital on Thursday, participating in an online question-answer session with Russian and foreign internet users. The forum, which was organized by the popular Russian web-browser Yandex.ru and the BBC, lasted 2 hours 10 minutes, Gazeta reported, during which time the president answered about 40 questions. The president promised to answer more of the 162,000 questions he received at another time, Gazeta said.

According to Vremya Novostei, the most popular questions submitted by participants related to Mr. Putin's personal life. One user asked when the president lost his virginity. Another frequently asked question was whether Russia would legalize marijuana, Izvestia reported. Mr. Putin responded saying that "Russia is an adherent to an international agreement which considers marijuana among those drugs that are officially forbidden." Other popular topics, said Vremya Novostei, were the military, xenophobia, housing and rights in Russia.

Mr. Putin began by discussing Tuesday's missile test by North Korea. He clarified, according to Kommersant, that rockets did not fall within Russian waters, but in the Russian economic zone. He played down the incident, said Kommersant, explaining that North Korea did not yet have the technology capable of targeting Russia with its missiles.

Participants also submitted questions about Mr. Putin's personal relationship with President George Bush. "I think George Bush is a respectable man and a good partner," Mr. Putin said. "If we agree on some mode of conduct, then he later tries to follow it," Kommersant reported the president as saying.

Komsomolskaya Pravda related a testy exchange between Mr. Putin and the BBC moderator Bridget Kendall, in a discussion of hikes in Russian gas prices. After Ms. Kendall submitted the question, the president proceeded to press the moderator on the price of the necklace she was wearing, which she admitted was a few hundred pounds. "You wouldn't want to sell it for five kopeks," Mr. Putin responded, trying to make his point. He went on: "Hysteria in the press [over increases in Russian gas prices for Ukraine] was really an attempt at applying political pressure.... Someone wants to force us to sell gas for throw-away prices. This has stopped."

Mr. Putin was supportive of democracy and its further development in Russia, Komsomolskaya Pravda reports. "Surely without development of democracy, without free press, Russia won't have a future," the president said. He also urged his audience, said Kommersant, not to think about whether democracy in Russia exists or not, but rather about what is needed to have more of it.

Very few participants submitted questions on important social issues, like low wages, poor pensions and children's benefits, Izvestia noted. The newspaper suggested that perhaps this was yet another sign of social and political apathy. Evgeny Rubtov of ROMIR Monitoring, suggested, however, that "internet users are the more successful, able and active part of the Russian population," and thus are not as concerned with material issues, Izvestia reports.

According to Gazeta, the idea of the forum came from the Putin administration. The newspaper interviewed Aleksei Makarkin of the Center for Political Technology who said that he believed the event to be political stunt. Andrei Ryabov, who also spoke to Gazeta, added that the event was proposed with the upcoming G8 Summit in mind. The internet conference was a way to showcase Russia's openness amid criticism by western governments of Putin's dismantling of free press and "roll back of democracy," the newspaper reports.

IN OTHER NEWS

ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA

FOREIGN MINSTER URGES DIPLOMACY WITH NORTH KOREA: In an exclusive interview, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, said that while Russia's relationship with North Korea was undermined by Tuesday's missile test, Russia would not press for sanctions. In order to regulate the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula, he said, six way negotiations must continue referring to dormant talks involving Russia, the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China and Japan. Sanctions, Mr. Lavrov said, would enable North Korea to continue missile testing without being answerable to anyone. Mr. Lavrov also discussed the upcoming G8 Summit. He noted that no decisions regarding the on-going problems in Iraq and Israel would be made. Rather, delegates will focus on issues of energy security, weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. Remarking on criticism of Russia's position vis-?is the G8, Lavrov said that "on a serious political level none of our partners doubts or has doubted our membership in the G8 or the competency of our presidency."

VREMYA NOVOSTEI

CLEANING UP FOR THE G8: The militia is purging the streets in St. Petersburg and the neighboring village of Strelna of illegal immigrants, homeless people, and even dogs and cats in anticipation of the G8 Summit. So far 25 illegal immigrants have been arrested and deported. People attempting to enter the cities will only be permitted with a special pass disseminated by authorities on Thursday. Some residents of Strelna are concerned about whether a long standing gypsy camp will be destroyed as well. The militia is promising complete protection for the residents of Strelna, who are worried that their city will become a meeting place of antiglobalists arriving in the area from around the world.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

TOILETS FOR ANTIGLOBALISTS, OR PETERSBURG CREATIVITY?: Nezavisimaya Gazeta muses on methods by which St. Petersburg city officials plan to deal with antiglobalist protestors during the Group of Eight Summit. Officials did not need much time to think of a way to deal with the protestors who caused considerable damage and ruckus during previous summits. The decision was made to "send the antiglobalists off to the Kirov Stadium and provide them with porta-pottis." In such a way the problem can be dealt with "in a smart and effective manner." First of all, Russian portable toilets are "cramped and not very comfortable." It is not, needless to say, conducive to hooliganism. Secondly, while in other countries the toilet is meant for "sending away natural necessities," in Russia, a public toilet is meant for "beating someone up." Therefore setting the antiglobalists up with portable toilets is, well, "not very pleasant." Nezavisimaya Gazeta, therefore, congratulates the St. Petersburg governor on her great idea for taking care of those who would create trouble during the summit.

NOVIE IZVESTIA

THE SIEGE OF ST. PETERSBURG: Preparations ahead of the Group of Eight Summit are quickly turning into a nightmare for local residents. Authorities are telling residents to sit quietly at home while all air, water, and rail transportation around the city will be cut off for the duration of the event. Road construction and building remodeling along the main streets have made sections of the city, such as Moskovsky Prospect, unreachable. In addition to the construction, residents are subject to safety inspections. One Petersburg resident, Dmitry Vasilev, whose windows look out onto one of the main streets, Kamenoostrovski Prospect, came home to find a federal agent waiting for him. "I walked up to my apartment and I met a colonel from the FSB," he said, referring to the security service. "He explained that because my windows look out on a federal highway, I must be checked for political and terrorist-related reliability," Mr. Vasilev said. The police are likewise checking up on political activist groups like the National Bolshevik Party. One member told reporters that the police have "long talks" with him and his fellow National Bolsheviks after they are held for questioning after protests. The only positive side of the summit for many seems to be the long-awaited repairs being conducted on some buildings that "have not been touched for 50 years."

KOMMERSANT

The St. Petersburg Deputy Prosecutor said Thursday that members of the extremist group, Sour, falsely confessed to a series of prominent crimes, including the murder of a Tajik girl, to further their nationalist agenda. While the group is guilty of a number of crimes, including the murder of a Senegalese student, it had no connection with the Tajik girl's murder or with the murder of a Vietnamese student or a five year old Roma girl, he said. He confirmed that the militia was justified in shooting Dmitry Borovikov, also a member of the group, when the suspect attempted to resist arrest.